"Hmm," Figwidget says. "A motif of stars and flames here, and it feels slightly warm to the touch. I wonder if this iconography refers to anything in particular?"
Figwidget ponders whether there's any religious ( ) or planar ( ) significance to the symbology.
"Ah, Nethys take it, here goes," he says. "Keep an eye out, let me know if something's about to smack me."
He sits down, pulls a bag full of alchemical reagents out of his haversack, and quickly whips together an abstract. He swallows it, and then spends some time concentrating on the necklace.
Tychi taps Rand on the shoulder. "If you will watch the unopened door, I will search through the open room to see if there are any cluse."
The tengu then carefully enters the room, looking around and searching it.
Figwidget nods. "Nice," he says. "Frozen fireballs... fireballs frozen in time."
He holds up the necklace and shows it to the others. "Pluck off one of the things on this necklace and throw it, and you can throw fireballs just like a wizard. There are 9 fireballs frozen on here, of different sizes. I can already throw explosions-- though not quite to this range!-- so if somebody else wants to take this, he should."
Tychi's search of the opened room reveals nothing of value nor any clues...
Listening at the unopened door, neither Tychi nor Major Luke Rand can hear anything...
A scuttling noise is coming from the north eastern corridor...getting closer, the soft red flashing light of a Clockwork Spy...
"Guys, we have another of those flying clockworks incoming. Are those things sentinels or spies or something?"
"Spies," Figwidget says. "Somebody is watching us. We should try to capture one."
Moving out of the darkness towards you, it is indeed another Clockwork Spy…of a similar design to the one that Carran so enthusaistically destroyed, it scuttles on mechanical arachnoid legs to a position some fifteen feet away from Carran and Figwidget and then, it's legs retract fully into it's body such that it lowers to the ground looking very much like a highly polished pebble. The red light on the rear of it's body flashes on and off…yet this time, there is something different…scrawled crudely on the side of the device, you can see spider like handwriting saying 'Press Me!!! accompanied by an arrow pointing at a raised knob adjacent to that insistent light...
Figwidget is a gnome.
Figwidget has yet to succumb to the bleaching.
You know what this means.
Figwidget's eyes light up, he moves forward to the clockwork spy, and he presses button next to the flashing light.
The button depresses under Figwidget's excitable press…there is a an accelerating of clockwork from within the device as the flashing of the light is replaced by a constant glow…and then….Click….
A scratchy voice emanates from somewhere within the metal carapace of the machine (which remains perfectly motionless with it's legs fully retracted), "Intruders…Thieves…Vandals….", a brief pause, "Know now that you have invaded the territory of Lord Habblegash the Magnificent… that you have stolen from me… that you have destroyed one of my creations… BUT… I am merciful… put down your weapons, return what is mine and leave this place... I promise no harm shall come to you…". There is another brief pause on the recording, the sound of a muffled cough and then the voice concludes, "If you are working for Two Heads, No Brain, send him this message…the upper levels are mine…he stays where he is, I'll stay where I am…tell him, he doesn't want to go to war with me… and my clockwork army…"
The light on the Clockwork Spy extinguishes and the device returns to an apparently dormant state.
Carran frowns as the thing plays then lowers his voice to a whisper.
"Two Heads, No Brain? I'm not sure we've met him before. Perhaps this Habblegash doesn't know we came from outside these caves."
"Too bad, that commuication device is only one way, I'd like to have a talk with the creator, find out what he knows."
From deep within the mine...another deep rumble...dust falls from the ceiling as the tunnels shudder...
"We're gonna have company soon!" Figwidget says. "I wonder who this Two-Brain is? Maybe there are two different factions vying for control of this mine? If so, clearly the thing to do is to get them fighting against each other. Maybe I can do something with this spy... wake me up if we get attacked!"
Figwidget gets his Engineer's Workgloves out of his haversack, and sits down by the clockwork spy. Pulling tools off of the All Tools Vest that he wears, he attempts to disassemble the device. His goal is to see if he can figure out anything about where it's been and who programmed it. A secondary goal would be to turn it into something that would work for the party, perhaps either to send a message back to its creator, or to spy for them.
Tychi nudges Luke. "We should check this while we have the time. This might make a good fall back should we get out numbered. We could hold off an army at the top of the stairs, yes?"
Tychi will, unless Luke objects, open the door to the last room, whipsword ready.
Weapon poised, Tychi barges through the closed door…ready for combat…he finds nothing but an empty room. Similar to the room that the gugs were ransacking, the furniture and decorations in this, smaller, room have long since rotted to garbage… If there was ever anything worth examining or investigating here, it has disappeared over the years. A strategic examination of the room however confirms that the door is in good repair and this room, or indeed the other room, could be a useful defendable location.
Figwidget's investigation of the dormant Clockwork Spy doesn't reveal too much in the way of clues as to who may have made it…indeed the components appear to have been cobbled together from a number of sources and somewhat ingeniously put back together to make a fully functional Clockwork Spy. Attempting to play the message a second time reveals that the stored information has been destroyed and, in fact, on further examination there doesn't appear to be any residual programming that would give any clues as to where the device has come from… This does however mean that the Clockwork Spy can be readily reprogrammed for whatever use you see fit...
Having seen that there is nothing moving to attack them, The Major will say "We should probably keep moving. We know this place is here if we need to fall back, but though those shuddering quakes worry me, the fact that there are factions here worry me more. That means politics, and that always means trouble."
Tychi nods as he follows Luke back down. "Politics and Religion are always worrisome when they show up around problems, and they always do."
Figwidget says, "Give me a few minutes here to see if I can turn this spy to our own purposes. We may need to come back here a bit later to collect it, so remember this spot! These little buggers aren't very smart, so I'm going to program it to go and record audio, and come back here."
With his Engineer's Workgloves and tools from his vest, he works on reprogramming the clockwork spy. He'll sent it back out the door it came in. He'll attempt to program it to continue through the mines, following the "right-hand-rule", until it comes into range of a creature that is not a construct (i.e. humanoid or monstrous humanoid or aberration or dragon or fey, etc.). Then, start recording, attempting to stay concealed, and following the creatures as much as possible. Once the recordings are done, return to this spot, and wait.
If possible, he'll also record it to remember the path it takes. (Normally, I don't think Clockwork Spies do that, but he'll give it a try....)
Figwidget sets the modified mechanical spy on the ground. Instantly, it's legs reappear from within it's body and, in a distinctly arachnoid style, it scuttles back along the north west corridor…disappearing into the darkness. With the spy set to work, you take a moment to listen for activity up either corridor….for now, everything appears quiet and still within the mine...
"Did we want to head the other way then? Make sure that there are no more of those....gugs? Is that what you called them?"
"Yes, gugs," Figwidget says. "And, yeah, let's head the other way, but come back here in an hour or so to see if the little guy returned."
"Sounds good." Luke will again take up point, ready to move down the hallway.
Tychi looks at Nike, and they seem to communicate silently for a second before the Tengu leaps lightly atop Nike's back. "We are ready."
With the Clockwork Spy chittering away to the north west, you start a careful exploration of the north east tunnel...mindful that this is where the third Gug originated from, your steps are quiet and measured....
You have travelled for barely forty feet before you arrive at a large alcove in the northern wall...somewhat incongruously in the centre of the alcove, a large green gemstone and a haunch of meat...
A further twenty feet up the tunnel, there is a second alcove, much smaller this time...the alcove leads to a set of steps that head upwards...and, at the top of the steps, you catchable glimpse of a metallic set of legs...watching for a second, they appear motionless...
Further to the north east, the tunnel proceeds for another forty feet before opening into a larger cavern....
...and somewhere from within the cavern...voices...barking and guttural....the same voices that originated from the perversely vertical mouths of the Gugs....
Tychi tilts his head. "Mister Carran, do you think you could hit that steak and gemstone from here with an arrow? And if so, do you think you could time it right to drop the net on the Gugs if we can lure them into charging down the tunnel?"
"I could hit that mark without question. That's reasonably easy. Though I'd have to use one of my blunter arrows for that. They have a greater impact that I think is needed to trigger it."
He looks at the trap with some disdain and a curious look in ihs eyes.
"I could also try to disable this trap, makes it safer for us to cross this area."
Luke looks from Tychi to Carran and says "What are you guys talking about?"
Tychi points out the trap, and the trigger, to Luke before turning back to Carran.
"It was my idea to make loud noises and lure the gugs into the trap, and have you set it off. For that matter, Nike and I could trot forward, let them see us, and then return and lure them into their own trap. It would be easier to kill them if they were tangled in their own nets, wouldn't it? So far, each combat has ended with either Luke or yourself horribly injured. I think we should be minimizing that going forward."
"Agreed, I'd like my fur to stay black and not turn a dark crimson. It sounds like a good plan, hopefully those Gugs fall for it."
"I have no problem with being in the van; I like to lead from the front. That being said, your plan has a certain....panache to it that makes me like it. Catching things in their own traps has a certain irony. Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."
Investigating the trap, it would seem a very simple task to re-engineer it such that it can be manually dropped by release of rope or similar.
Carran looks over the trap and looks pleasantly surprised.
"I think I can safely move this into a position we want. It might take some time though and a little help will be appreciated."
That said, Carran squats down and quickly tries to dismantle the trap before him, ready to transport it to a place of thei choosing.
"Where do we want this installed? just further up the eastern road right? Do you want a rig we could trigger ourselves or a rig they'd activate when they get close?"
Luke will nod and move things as directed.
Tychi nods as Carran begins to turn the trap against the gugs. "I think, we want to have control over it, for maximum effect. If you can rig a rope to it to activate it, Mr. Not Figwidget could pull at the appropriate time, freeing you up to shoot them with arrows repeatedly."
Nike snorts in amusement. "You might want to take the bait as well, once you've disabled the trap, it might come in useful."
Disassembling the trap and rehanging the trap isn't overtly challenging...the trap mechanism itself is rudimentary however it takes quite some effort to resuspend all of the metal components...the components themselves appear to be cogs and gearing from a heavy duty mechanical device....
It is in the last minutes of setting the trap (in a manner that can be manually released) that a familiar sound and sight reappears. A metallic scuttling approaching through the gloom...the clockwork spy that you set to work has returned...however, the red light that had previously been illuminated on the spy (when you first encountered it) remains extinguished.
Turning to Figwidget, Luke says "hey, looks like your little friend has come back."
"Hmm," Figwidget says. "It doesn't seem to have recorded anything. That could be for any of a number of reasons, but most likely it didn't find any people to record. No surprise; whoever sent it will be behind a closed door that this little guy wouldn't normally just be able to go through. Before we set the trap, I'll send him off in the other direction to see if there's anything that way it records."
Figwidget will reconfigure the clockwork spy to go off in the opposite direction and explore the mines using the right-hand rule. If it comes across any creatures other than constructs, he'll program it to stop and record as long as it can, while the creatures are still there, and then finally to bring the audio back to the room where they first sent it off-- or to find him, if it's able (although that might be asking too much of the programming of such a simple device).
That done, he'll help with getting the trap ready... and he will volunteer to be the one who stays back and triggers it, if necessary.
As Figwidget examines and reprogrammes the Clockwork Spy, he makes an unpleasant discovery. Opening the carapace of the device, he discovers that four small white maggot like creatures have somehow found their way into the innards of the machine. They spill to the floor and blindly wriggle away from you…
Setting the reprogrammed Clockwork Spy back to the floor, it crawls away to the north east…turning right at the first junction that it arrives at…the corridor that leads up steps to a set of metallic legs.
With the Clockwork Spy is set on it's way, work on the repositioned trap is finished. A large quantity of metal components sits within the suspended net…ready to fall when someone throws the lever that you have improvised.
"Gah!" Figwidget says. "Rot grubs! Really, really, nasty things. Like to embed themselves in your flesh and eat you. Yuck!"
He watches the four as they wriggle away.
"Usually encountered in swarms. Probably this little spy walked through one, which is why it picked these up. They wouldn't have been able to feed on it, which is why there are only four in here... and why it kept walking. But, we need to look out! When we find one of those things, I should chuck a few bombs at it; my bombs can clear out swarms pretty well."
Tychi nods, and Nike snorts, shaking her head and mane. "Yes, Mr. Not Figwidget, that is excellent advice. We will happily leave all swarms to your tender ministrations." Then Tychi readies his whip sword, and he and Nike walk forward slowly, clip clop, clip clop, up the tunnel, walking slowly and looking ahead. Once beyond the light, it is mostly Nike who is looking (Tychi not having any ability to see outside the torchlight).
Having finished the trap, Carran will instruct Figwidget with the pulling of the rope if he didn't already see how the new trap works.
"We'll go take a look or sniffand come back when the Gugs show themselves. I guess we'll not go far as those rot grubs may be lurking somewhere as well. We'll be back shortly."
Cautiously advancing down the tunnel...Tychi and Carran move towards the increasingly raucous sound of what you assume must be another nest of Gugs...
Moving past the corridor that leads to the stairs (where the Clockwork Spy disappeared...), you see that the metallic legs are still present...immobile.
A further fifty feet along the corridor (about a hundred feet from Figwidget, Major Luke Rand and the repurposed trap), the tunnel opens up into a much larger cavern...to the north, you can see that the tracks lead in various directions. Behind you a small tunnel leads to the west and then turns from view... To the south, a tunnel that disappears into darkness....
And, directly ahead...another small cavern...the source of the noises revealed as you can see movement ahead....three, maybe four Gugs busily gnawing on food...from their relaxed demeanour, it appears that they haven't yet seen you....
Tychi leans over to talk in a low voice to Carran. "Do you wish to put an arrow in one to alert them to our presence? Or shall Nike bugle a challenge at them?"
"If I could see them clearly I would shoot at them. It's a little bit too dark for me in here to see them. I can loose an arrow or two, but I'm not sure if it will hit any of them."
With that he takes a few arrows in hand and fires them in rapid succession.
Carran looks toward Tychi and Nike and shrugs.
"Guess it might be easier to draw them out if Nike makes a challenge to them."
The soft flickering of a fire somewhere within the cavern is all Carran needs to pick out a target… A flurry of arrows is sent flying towards the nearest Gug, two striking the unaware creature in the flank. Instantly, bedlam erupts… amid shrieking and bellowing, the Gugs jump to their feet and start to run out of the cavern towards you...
Four smaller Gugs run from the cavern followed by a Gug standing some twelve feet high… this, clearly adult, Gug is wielding a staff of some form...